"We have seen a fair bit of money growing sugarcane for a few years now."

With sugarcane proving profitable, its cultivation is growing in Tangail. For several years farmers have been getting the yields they hoped for, and this year too the district's farmers have had great success. With a good harvest, they are cutting cane early and selling it at the prices they hoped for, leaving growers very happy this year as well.

Jalil Mia, a farmer from Charabari in Dainya union of Tangail Sadar upazila, said: "This year I grew sugarcane on 4 bighas. Including land preparation, seedlings, labour, fertiliser and pesticide, it cost me about Tk 85,000. I hope to sell more than Tk 1.5 lakh worth of cane."

Farmer Hasan Ali Mia said: "This year I grew sugarcane on one and a half bighas. With good cane prices in the market, I will make a profit."

Razzak Mia, a farmer in Nagarpur, said: "More than twice as many farmers are growing sugarcane in Nagarpur this year as last year, because they made a good profit last time. The market is good this year too, so there will be a profit."

Mansur Ali, a sugarcane seller at Tangail Park Bazar, said: "I farm one bigha of my own and also buy cane from other farmers' fields to sell. That way I make a profit, and the farmers profit too." He said: "We have seen a fair bit of money growing sugarcane for a few years now."

According to the Tangail district office of the Department of Agricultural Extension (DAE), sugarcane has been grown in 10 of Tangail's 12 upazilas, all except Sakhipur and Dhanbari. This year's target for the district was 559 hectares, but cane was grown on 786 hectares, 227 hectares more than the target, producing 26,405 tonnes. Of this, 285 hectares were in Sadar upazila, 2 in Basail, 30 in Kalihati, 16 in Ghatail, 280 in Nagarpur, 32 in Mirzapur, 11 in Madhupur, 55 in Bhuapur, 12 in Gopalpur and 63 in Delduar. Last year sugarcane was grown on 559 hectares in the district.

Abdur Razzak, deputy director of the DAE in Tangail, told Dhaka Tribune: "Sugarcane cultivation has been increasing in the district for several years, and this year there has been a bumper harvest. Farmers are profiting from selling cane. By growing intercrops in the cane fields they recover the cost of growing the cane, and the money from selling the cane then comes as a lump-sum profit. In Tangail the variety grown for chewing is the most common."

He added: "The agriculture department is training sugarcane farmers, and sub-assistant agriculture officers go to the fields to advise them. Tangail's sugarcane meets the district's demand and also goes to Pabna, Sirajganj and other parts of the country. So far about 20 to 30 per cent of the cane has been cut, and about 7,500 farmers are involved in growing it."

Source: Dhaka Tribune. First published in Bengali on The Agro News.